Feminist Parenting

Why feminist parenting? Because there's something wrong with a world in which I (a woman) do not yet have equal rights under the law, rights equal to my husband's or any other man's. In this nation (in this world) I am a second-class citizen, and that's just wrong. I want to raise my children to believe that women and men are equals, in the hope that they and their peers will change the world and make it a better place for all people to live in.

Many people have misunderstood what it means to be a feminist. The feminist movement has been misrepresented in the media and an incorrect definition of feminism (feminism as the ideology of women who believe they are superior to men) has been offered and accepted by too many people who are ignorant of the true aims of feminists. The true definition of feminism is much simpler than that, and much more defensible. To that end I offer the definition below:

fem·i·nism
Pronunciation: fe'-mi-ni-zim
Function: noun
Date: 1895
1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests
- fem·i·nist /-nist/ noun or adjective
- fem·i·nis·tic /"fe-m&-'nis-tik/ adjective

(Definition provided by the quick-lookup function at A Web of On-Line Dictionaries.)

Or in my own definition, a la Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary:

A feminist is a woman who believes she deserves equal respect and treatment to men.

(Okay okay I know not only women are feminists, but I haven't been able to phrase it for humor without the feminist being a woman.)

 

Return to Home Page

Email Me

Copyright ©1998 Linda Blanchard All Rights Reserved. Date Added: June 22, 1998. Last Update: January 07, 2009.